5 Great Arm Workouts That You Can Do At Home

Working out at home takes some serious motivation and determination, but once you’ve got it down then you can easily save yourself a lot of time and money by skipping a gym membership.

I find that one of the most difficult parts of working out at home, though, can be that motivation factor. How do you push yourself when there isn’t some super-buff trainer yelling encouragement?

Well, the simple answer is that you do really hard moves that don’t require you to work out for a long time.

1. Forearm Plank

You can do these between sets of any other workout that you do, according to Fitness magazine. Get into a push-up position, then align your elbows on the floor directly under your shoulders.

Stretch your hands forward and place them flat on the ground or interlace your fingers. Try to make a straight line from your head to your heels, supporting your lower back by holding your abdominal muscles in.

Hold for 20 seconds and then break for 20 seconds by lowering our knees to the ground. Try to work up to six reps.

2. Chair Dips

These are one of the best workouts for the entire backs of your arms. Please make sure you use a stable chair—that means no rolling office chairs!

Place your hands on the seat of a chair and keep your feet flat on the floor. You can start sitting in the chair or just squatting slightly over it.

Then, lower your body toward the floor while keeping your feet flat on the floor and your elbows in a 90-degree angle. Keep your back straight as you lift and lower your body in front of the chair. Do eight reps three times.

3. Push-Ups

I know, I know, push-ups are like the running of arm workouts. No one actually enjoys push-ups (just like no one really enjoys running), but they’re super effective, and you don’t have to do too many to actually get results.

Even better, you can modify them by dropping to your knees. The key to finishing a few sets of push-ups is to put rotate them as part of a circuit. For example, you could do them in between sets of chair dips.

If you’re a push-up pro, try buying a balance ball and doing push-ups with your legs balanced on the ball.

5. Hip Heist Push-Up

This move is pretty crazy, but Health.com says its for “those who want arms like Jillian Michaels,” and how can you go wrong with that?

This move starts in a high push-up position. Lower yourself into a low push-up position and lift your right hand and your left foot. Rotate your body to the right as if you were going to turn into a side plank.

Keep the right arm held up in a low push-up position, and bring the across the body towards your right armpit. Continue to pivot on the left hand and right foot until you can place both your right hand and left foot on the ground.

Keep your knees bent at 90-degree angles and your arms straightened while you lift your abdomen in line with your shoulders. Repeat this eight times on each side.